The 2024 regular season is in the books, and with it, another year of PLV data! The MLB award winners will be announced next month, but we here at Pitcher List thought it would be fun to give out our own awards based on our new, beloved set of stats. Thus, I present our first annual PLV All-Stars Regular Season Awards for the 2024 season!
The “Most PLValuable Player” Award
American League: Aaron Judge
National League: Shohei Ohtani
We’ll start at the top, with the likely real MVP winners, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani. It’s good Ohtani moved to the NL, as choosing between them would have been difficult after their epic seasons (though PLV would take Judge). These two luminaries deserved everything they achieved in 2024 if you give credence to PLV stats. In this case, the results followed the process.
Judge led all hitters (minimum 2k pitches seen) in the PLV Power, Process, and Hitter Performance Categories. Power is not a surprise, but Judge’s high marks in Strikezone Judgement and Decision Value show that he’s more than just a big bopper. The “Process” category, new this year, combines Power, Decision Value, and Contact, making it an excellent catch-all stat, along with Hitter Performance, for offensive skill and Judge’s above-average Decisions and almost-average Contact did not stop him from topping the Process leaderboard. Judge posted the highest batting average, OBP, and SLG of his career this year, an incredible feat considering his tremendous, MVP-winning 2022 season.
Ranking second in the Power, Process, and HP categories was our NL MVP, the great Shohei Ohtani. Remember when this guy used to pitch? His other PLV marks aren’t as impressive as Judge’s, but we’re splitting hairs. The Unicorn finished first or second in MLB in HRs, Runs, RBI, Stolen Bases, SLG, OPS, wOBA, ISO, and wRC+. In the categories he finished second, it was to Judge every time except SBs (Elly De La Cruz). Appreciate these two players, baseball fans; they are putting up historic numbers.
The “PLV Cy Youngs” Award
American League: Logan Gilbert
National League: Cristopher Sánchez
Neither Gilbert nor Sanchez will likely walk away with a real Cy Young award this off-season. If I were a betting man, I’d wager those trophies end up in the trophy cases for Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale. However, PLV loves what these two hurlers did in 2024, ranking them at the top of their respective leagues among pitchers who made at least 2k pitches.
Gilbert had a losing record for the Mariners at 9-12, but it’s hard to blame him for the results. The Mariners averaged only 3.6 runs in his starts, the fifth-lowest number in MLB among starters who threw 150+ innings. Gilbert’s 3.23 ERA, 0.89 WHIP, and 5.95 K/BB ratio deserved better run support. A primarily five-pitch arsenal — comprising a slider, four-seamer, splitter, curveball, and cutter — drove the lanky righties’ 5.4 PLV / 2.10 PLA. As the chart below illustrates, all five offerings were highly effective, particularly his devastating slider, ranked among the best in MLB.
Sánchez quietly put forth another excellent campaign for the Phillies in 2024, posting an 11-9 record, 3.32 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and a stellar 5.39 PLV / 2.27 PLA. Sánchez didn’t generate many strikeouts at only 7.6 per nine, but his 58.1% ground ball rate was among the highest in the sport. Unsurprisingly, he kept the ball down with all three of his pitches — a sinker, slider, and cutter — all of which were very effective. Sánchez’s changeup stands out as one of MLB’s best, driven by an incredible arm-side break.
The “Reliever Nobody is Talking About but Should Be” Award
Every baseball fan is aware of Emmanuel Clase. The Guardian’s closer had an other-worldly 2024, saving 47 of 50 games with a 0.61 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP. Clase also had the highest PLV (5.64) and lowest PLA (1.33) among pitchers who threw at least 500 pitches. But do you know who was second to Clase in these categories? If you guessed anyone other than Griffin Jax, you should work on your deductive reasoning.
A converted starter, Jax throws an unconventional five-pitch mix with regularity and excelled with all of them in 2024. Only his sinker had a PLA above 2.00, which still ranked well above average. He ranked high among MLB relievers in many categories this year. Most notable were a 29% K/BB rate, a 0.87 WHIP, a 36.9% CSW%, and a 39.7% O-Sw%. Jax and closer Jhoan Duran and Cole Sands gave Minnesota one of the best one-two-three punches out of the bullpen in 2024.
The “It Takes More Than Great Plate Discipline” Award
Among hitters who saw 2k+ pitches in 2024, George Springer led MLB in both the Strikezone Judgement and Decision Value categories. Our definition of Strikezone Judgement is “the ‘correctness’ of a hitter’s swings and takes, using the likelihood of a pitch being a called strike (for swings) or a ball/HBP (for takes).” Decision Value is defined as “the modeled value of a hitter’s decision to swing or take.” Leading all major league hitters in these categories surely must’ve led to an exceptional season for Springer. Right?
Ugh. Apparently not. Springer’s SZ and DV kept his K% and BB% in a respectable place but didn’t help him put a bat on the ball. A .245 BABIP indicates some bad luck, but a 34.7% Ideal Contact Rate (Brl+Solid+FI&B/Total BBEs) was in the 24th percentile and reflects his below-average Contact and Power ratings. Despite his excellent plate discipline, Springer was, at best, an average hitter in 2024.
The “Good Luck Getting It By Me” Award
The now three-time batting champ, Luis Arraez, continued to leave pitchers unsatisfied in 2024, striking out only 29 times in 672 plate appearances. Did superior Strikezone Judgement drive his success? No. Arraez’s SZJ was one of the worst in baseball, and his DV wasn’t much better. His walk rate was 3.6%, and he averaged only 3.5 pitches per plate appearance. Arraez’s success comes almost entirely from his uncanny ability to put the bat on the ball.
The Padres’ utility man’s 4.3% strikeout percentage was less than half that of the second man on the list, Steven Kwan (9.4%). When he swung, he rarely missed, evidenced by his league-low 6.9% Whiff%. Arraez even made contact on pitches out of the zone nearly 90% of the time. The dude’s hand-eye coordination is incredible. So, while he may not have much plate discipline and lacks any semblance of power, Arraez still nets out as an effective hitter with a skill that has largely been lost.
